Solution: Assessment

Interestingly, both the distance learning and instructor sides of the online composition issue call for a surge in evaluation.  For example, the solution to the distance education question that the American Federation of Teachers proposes is not less restriction as teachers develop of online courses, but instead a set of basic standards that will ensure that a quality distance course can emerge “under any organizational structure” (Kriger, 2001, p. 18). In their report, the AFT suggests 14 Guidelines for Good Practice based on a survey of 200 distance educators, including a specific mention of course evaluation.

1. Faculty must retain academic control
2. Faculty must be prepared to meet the special requirements of teaching at a distance
3. Course design should be shaped to the potentials of the medium
4. Students must fully understand course requirements and be prepared to succeed
5. Close personal interaction must be maintained
6. Class size should be set through normal faculty channels
7. Courses should cover all material
8. Experimentation with a broad variety of subjects should be encouraged
9. Equivalent research opportunities must be provided
10. Student assessment should be comparable
11. Equivalent advisement opportunities must be offered
12. Faculty should retain creative control over use and re-use of materials
13. Full undergraduate degree programs should include same-time same place coursework
14. Evaluation of distance coursework should be undertaken at all levels (p. 19)

Yet, not only is evaluation specifically mentioned as one of the top fourteen elements needed in a good online course, but most of the other guidelines on the AFT list can only be measured through whole course assessment. In other words, assessment of students' writing ability is not enough to determine whether a course is successful or not, rather investigation should also be made of personal interactions within a course, faculty control and preparation, class size, etc. These and other similar standards reveal the crucial role evaluation should play in the development of online courses. The AFT and many other organizations in the distance education arena have developed standards such as these, yet all sets of standards I have seen share one thing in common: the call for more course and program evaluation.

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